Written by: Josiah Cuellar, original article published by The Dickinson Press
The old adage goes that, “a picture is worth a thousand words,” but Gooseneck Implement contends that “a picture is worth a John Deere Cooler.”
Gooseneck Implement launched an online photo contest for their customers, which has since spread across the corporation to include multiple cities and towns. The contest began in 2016 and provided customers a place to show off their mechanical equipment and everyday life with others in the regional agriculture community.
From something as simple as a pair of tired and rugged hands, built through years of hard work, to an old piece of machinery running into the setting sun, the contest has garnered thousands of entries and sparked a competitive contest.
“We started with a fall harvest contest and then that following spring did a spring contest,” Heather Milbrath, marketing manager at Gooseneck Implement, said. “We knew that customers were out taking these kinds of photos because farmers and ranchers have a lot of pride in their equipment and their crop. … We wanted to see them and find a way to share them with other people.”
The company uses its Facebook page to display submitted photos, and to announce the winners. “It’s a cool way for [customers] to see what it’s like in other areas,” Milbrath said. “You get to see what other crops are growing, other types of equipment and it’s just a cool way to see what everyone else is doing.
Year over year, the number of participants has grown. The first year they received 39 photos, then 74, and this year there were 81 submissions.
“For us, it’s really exciting, especially when we added Dickinson, Bowman, Beach, Elgin and Lemmon,” Milbrath said. “We really did see growth, adding those territories with more customers to participate in the photo contest was a plus.”
Gooseneck Implement has embraced the use of their social media presence by engaging with their clientele in ways previously untapped, something Milbrath said was only helping to bring the agriculture community even closer together.
“The day we add a bunch of photos we get more entries because people are seeing it on their news feed,” Milbrath said.
Those who don’t have a Facebook account aren’t left on the outside looking in. Photos can be submitted via email at: marketing@gooseneckimp.com
“One of the cool things is we have some customers that don’t have facebook, but hear about the contest and ask if we can still add it. I just say of course!” said Milbrath.
